What a wonderful trip we had to see Asian art at the Museum of Fine Arts! Knowledgeable guides trained our eyes to see the influence of nature in Chinese pottery, porcelain, furniture and bronze.We saw Buddhist statues, guardian figures and dragons. Everyone asked thoughtful questions and had excellent museum behavior. There are so many other exhibits to see and I could see the students’ eyes wandering into other rooms. This would be a great family field trip! Thank you to the PTO for sponsoring this field trip and thank you to Charlene Flynn and Maryellen Holler for chaperoning. Students sat down to discuss Shiloh in their first Literature Circle meetings this week. They prepared notes and met with four other classmates to discuss what has happened so far in the book. In addition to sharing ideas about the book, students are practicing a variety of conversation skills, such as piggybacking on each other’s ideas, introducing new topics, and listening to each other without interrupting. I was so impressed with the level of conversation, especially since it was everyone’s first attempt. When we all came together to reflect on the successes and concerns, most students shared that they enjoyed hearing each other’s thoughts and learned more about the book by discussing it. Yippee! That’s what I’m hoping for! These types of discussions are the ones that make life-long readers. We worked on division word problems this week in math and used our common sense to interpret remainders. Should the remainder be reported as a decimal or fraction, ignored or should the answer be rounded up?Later in the week, students reviewed types of angles and learned to use a full-circle protractor to measure.In science, we tested different materials to discover if they allow energy to pass through them. The students made a “testing circuit” and included each material to see if it would allow the light bulb to light.We will be designing a science to illuminate in a few weeks and will need a shoe box, so save one if you are buying shoes in the near future!Interested in a family engineering challenge? Check out the new engineering website athttp://hinghamelementaryengineering.weebly.com/ and look for the Marshmallow Challenge. A purple notice went home Friday announcing a “Literacy Book Camp” taught by Ms, Farrell and Mrs. Alden after school. These 6 sessions will provide extra opportunities for 4th graders to practice reading text and writing responses. Please return the sign up sheet on Tuesday if your child is interested in participating. The class starts on Wednesday.

Thanks to Erin Burns for helping with math games this week! Ask a Fourth Grader....* What is the difference between a conductor and an insulator?* How did your first Literature Circle discussion go? * What is a reflex angle?* What did you remember most about the Asian Art exhibit at the MFA?